Interview With The Joint Doctor

We wanted to bring you the definitive historic account of how modern psychoactive autoflowering cannabis began its journey. The words come from the Joint Doctor himself. This is how it all began.

Growing up on a farm, the Joint Doctor took an early interest in Cannabis cultivation. Bringing some seed with him to college, he supplied his head stash by growing small plants in his dorm room and the adjacent woodlot. These “extra-curricular” activities, in time, turned out to be the beginning of a career in Cannabis research.

Later, while traveling, the Joint Doctor observed ganja plantations, wild patches of Cannabis, towering hemp fields, and even ornamental hemp, learning a great deal about the incredible diversity of this species. He soon became convinced that nearly anything is possible, in the marijuana breeding department. To create new, better varieties, he reasoned, all that was needed was some diverse sources of high-quality genes, a keen eye for observation, lots of time and patience, and as it turns out, a bit of luck.

"I have always been attracted to novel and unusual characteristics in plants. Living on a farm, I started playing around with unusual varieties of food crops with seeds brought from exotic places at about the same time I started experimenting with Cannabis – over 20 years ago. Later on, I attempted to create smaller strains of Cannabis for myself, to grow in small spaces, using unrelated genetics. I think that making the most of small spaces is a strong recurring theme’”

The idea stuck, and gave new direction to the Joint Doctor’s projects. About the same time, he began to trade seed with a new friend, Antonio, a spry, dreadlocked Mexican expatriate who had been collecting and growing unusual strains for 30-plus years.

"One of the types of Cannabis seed the Joint Doctor acquired from Antonio was called “Mexican Rudy,” a strain which stayed short and flowered earlier than anything else he had. He didn’t know too much about it. At first the name seemed contradictory: “Rudy” almost certainly stood for Ruderalis, a mythical, rare subspecies of wild Cannabis from Siberia which has a short growth habit and quick life cycle; but he failed to see the link with Mexico, though it was the country of Antonio’s origin. Was this simply an unrelated Ruderalis-like plant from Mexico, or did it have a link to the real thing?"

Think Different. AutoFem’s have come a long way in a short time

Although no-one can be sure until some type of genetic fingerprinting is done, it's possible the Mexican Rudy was actually an experimental cross of Russian Ruderalis and Mexican Cannabis, made sometime in the 1970s. The Joint Doctor thinks this may have come from the University of Mississippi or the University of Ottawa. In any case, the strain was kept and grown out in Canada for several years previously. The Rudy was indeed a short, quick-flowering strain, but with medium potency. But it provided Antonio and his friends with some well-needed stash in mid-summer, before normal plants had even thought about budding.

Here are the Joint Doctor’s memories of Mexican Rudy. "It was very fast-maturing, and very hardy, although the potency was low to medium. At first, I crossed it with a Northern Lights #2 that I knew was also a compact plant, but more potent. These F1 seeds gave some really nice, vigorous moms, and although they weren’t autoflowering, they were quick and compact. As I understood much later, the autoflowering trait wasn’t expressed in the F1 since it was recessive. Not really knowing what I had, I decided to cross this F1 with a few different varieties, of the best clones I had around."

Without specific expectations, the Joint Doctor crossed the Rudy with a Northern Lights #2 female, then with a William’s Wonder clone. It was the offspring of the experimental 3-way cross that brought back the recessive autoflowering genes into the equation, most likely inherited from the Rudy.

"I was beginning to have an eye for novel characteristics. I had a tendency to keep seeds and strains that many a grower would have thrown out as off-types. When growing out the next generation of seedlings, in particular a batch of William’s Wonder x (NL#2 x Rudy) seedlings, my buddy and I noticed some very unusual male plants that flowered immediately, when they were still basically seedlings. This was unheard of, especially in a room receiving 24 hours of daily light!"

It was a real Eureka moment. Fortunately, the Joint Doctor kept the unusual plants and was able to stabilise the autoflowering trait in them, while many growers would have rejected the plants. Only these novelty plants were kept for further multiplication, and all the subsequent generations retained this “autoflowering” characteristic. The hybrid, dubbed simply Willy’s Automatic at first, became the basis for Lowryder.

"I used these “freak” dwarf males as pollinators, and lo and behold, my next generation consisted exclusively of tiny plants that matured automatically at no more than 12 inches and less than 60 days from seed. An ideal closet cultivar. It seemed incredible. And the taste and potency were great too, retaining the structure and scent reminiscent of the William’s Wonder, coupled with a sort of wild, earthy but pleasant aftertaste inherent in ruderalis. The hybrid, dubbed simply Willy’s Automatic at first, became the basis for Lowryder. All the subsequent generations retained this autoflowering characteristic. I grew the variety out on a small scale, in a closet in the winter, and in my garden during the summer, selecting the best specimens, for several generations before it was released on any scale."

A few years later and feminized autoflower, ‘AutoFem’, varieties have potency on a par with top quality traditional varieties and sometimes out-yield them. Dutch Passion felt the StarRyder collaboration with the Joint Doctor was a natural match of two companies, both of which are happy to defy convention.

Recent comments (2)

On 27 -02-2015 at 00:13 u Curtis wrote:why is it that no one wants to sell regular seeds of the auto strains? Could it be because they dont want us to be able to breed and make our own seed.... Ive been trying to get regular auto seeds for a long time now... Can you please help me????

On 28 -02-2015 at 09:09 u Eddy - Dutch Passion wrote:Curtis, less than 3% of our seed sales for traditional photoperiod varieties are regular. The reason we don't sell regular auto seeds is simply that there are not enough people interested in growing regular seed

Seed type

Dutch Passion advise their customers to reassure themselves of local applicable laws and regulations before germination. Dutch Passion cannot be held responsible for the actions of those who act against laws and regulations that apply in their locality. Cannabis seeds should be kept as collectible souvenirs by anyone in an area where cultivation of cannabis is not legal.